Free A Little Slice of Heaven by Gina Ardito Page A

thrown wide, Gianna knelt to give each of the four pint-sized rabble-rousers a hug. “What are you doing here? Where are your parents?”
    “ My mom’s in the front with Ashley’s mom.” A gap-toothed little girl jerked her pigtailed head toward the racks of greeting cards. “We’re looking for a card for Miss Donahue. She’s getting married soon.”
    A pained look crossed Gianna’s features. By the time Kyle’s gaze traveled from her to the towheads and back again, her furrowed brow had relaxed. She smiled, translating her anxiety into a façade of serenity. “Yes, I know. I’ve been invited to her wedding.”
    “ You have?” another little girl asked. “Is that why you’re here? Are you looking for a card for Miss Donahue too?”
    “ No, Ashley. I’m here with a friend.” She glanced at Kyle. “Ladies, this is Mr. Hayden.”
    “ Hello, Mr. Hayden,” the four singsong voices chorused.
    Ashley, the curious one and most likely the leader of the quartet, tilted her head like a quizzical parakeet. “Are you Miss Randazzo’s boyfriend?”
    “ No,” he told her. “We’re just friends.”
    “ How old are you?” the child asked.
    This kid was going to be the next Barbara Walters. “How old are you ?”
    “ I turned six in September,” Ashley replied with all the maturity her age required.
    “ Well, I turned six a long time ago.”
    Apparently his answer satisfied the inquisitive Ashley, who returned her attention to her friends.
    “ When are you coming back to school?” the smallest of the girls asked.
    Sadness floated over Gianna’s face, and she shook her head. “I’m not coming back to school, Megan.”
    “ Never?”
    “ I might come by to visit now and then. But I won’t be teaching there anymore.”
    “ But I promised my little brother you’d be his teacher,” Ashley said. “He starts kindergarten next year.”
    As if in pain, Gianna grimaced. “I-I’m s-sorry, Ashley. But I work somewhere else now.”
    The child’s lower lip protruded and puckered. Then she snuffled. While the drama unfolded, Kyle didn’t know with whom he sympathized more. Ashley was crestfallen, but Gianna’s eyes threatened to overflow. Neither female maintained full emotional control.
    “ Gianna?” He moved one step closer, and his action must have alerted her to her tenuous state.
    Rising again, she quickly wiped the back of her hand across her eyes. “You girls should go back to your parents before they begin to worry.”
    Instantly, four heads dropped to stare at the floor.
    “ O-kay,” Ashley said, scuffing her pink sneakers across the ecru carpet. “Promise you’ll come visit soon.”
    “ I promise. Now, go.” She waved them off.
    The girls scampered away, but not without one last aria. “Goodbye, Miss Randazzo and Mr. Hayden.”
    “ So long.” He turned to Gianna, who leaned against the copy machine as if her legs lacked the strength to keep her upright. “You okay?”
    Brushing off some imaginary lint, she ran her hands down the front of her jeans. “Oh, sure. I’m great. Why wouldn’t I be?” If the unshed tears didn’t give her away, her pallor spoke volumes.
    Nevertheless, he shrugged. “No reason.”
    “ Come on.” A ghost of a smile flickered between them. “Let’s go cash that check and spend it.”
    Linking her arm through his, she led him out of the store. He noticed how she purposely avoided the aisle where the little girls clamored around two harried-looking women, but he said nothing and followed her into the mall.
    Their next stop was two doors down. Keeping with the atmosphere around them, this bank more closely resembled a department store than the staid branches he normally visited in Manhattan. Pale pink walls, burgundy carpet, and tellers dressed in bright colors contrasted with the austere white-gray-and-black ensembles Wall Street offices wore like uniforms. Velvet ropes penned customers in a serpentine procession. Impatience etched a permanent residence in